Formal consultation starts on AIB 3 Year plan

Formal consultation starts on AIB 3 Year plan

Serious issues identified by the Union need to be addressed in talks says FSU.

Formal consultation began today between the Financial Services Union (FSU) and AIB on proposals from the Bank to reduce the workforce by up to 1,500 staff. The proposals would also include the Bank exiting its commercial banking operations in Great Britain (GB).

AIB had paused its plans back in March 2020 due to COVID-19 but announced in December that they would be proceeding early in 2021. Back in December the FSU described the plan to proceed as ill timed and called for it to be postponed until the effects of COVID-19 were over. It is against this backdrop that the consultation has now started.

Billy Barrett, Senior Industrial Relations Officer with the FSU commented.

“The FSU firmly believe that any proposals from the Bank to cut the workforce in AIB should be postponed and should only be tabled for discussion post COVID-19. The Banks decision to proceed is disappointing, however formal consultation has now commenced”.

As part of the strategic plan proposed by the Bank a majority of the jobs in GB would be under treat of redundancy.

“The decision to wind down most of the Banks operation in the UK leaves many unanswered questions. The viability of the Banks remaining operating in the UK, the selection process for possible redundancies and the possible application of transfer of undertaking protection of employment law legislation are issues to be discussed.”

“The FSU enter this consultation phrase with a clear agenda of minimising job losses, ensuring any proposed redundancies are real redundancies and that remaining staff are not shouldered with the burden of increased workloads. We will not accept the loss of full-time positions in AIB and have these replaced with precarious contracts” stated Mr Barrett.

“The FSU expect negotiations to last for some time. We acknowledge the pro- active engagement from Bank on their proposed transformation programme but a recognition from the Bank that staff have fulfilled their roles with professionalism in very challenging times and are deserving of job certainty and just reward needs to be core to any discussions concluded Mr Barrett.

ENDS

Contact: Brian McDowell, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, FSU. Tel: 087-9161225. Email: brian.mcdowell@fsunion.org.

About FSU: The FSU is Ireland’s leading union across banking and finance. We represent thousands of staff across the main retail banks, and we have members in more than 70 companies across the finance and fintech sectors. Our members are spread across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. We are headquartered in Dublin and we also have a presence in Belfast. We are members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and UNI Global finance union.